The Sacramento State men’s cross country team finished in eighth place out of 11 teams while the women’s team finished 11th out of 15 at the Aggie Invitational at Davis Saturday.

The host University of California, Davis Aggies took both the men and women’s team titles.

“We had a very difficult week of practice and their legs were beat even before the meet,” Hornets head coach Joe Neff said.

The top-three finishers for the men’s team were junior Mike Santarosa (31st place, 27 minutes, 2.20 seconds), sophomore Dustin Beauchamp (42nd, 27:17.90) and senior Cuco Chavez (47th, 27:25.60).

The Aggies men had the best team score (19 points) and were followed by University of California, Berkley (81), Santa Clara University (165), Hoy’s Excelsior (169), and University of Alaska, Anchorage (171). Sac State finished with 287 team points.

The Hornets women’s team was led by sophomore Annette Corey, who finished in 34th place with a time of 19:17.10.

“Annette ran her best race of the year. I think she is in about 18:45 shape,” Neff said.

Senior Sara Swan (46th, 19:38.50) and sophomore Tina Limon (52nd, 19:44.20) followed Corey at the finish line.

The Aggies women had the best women’s team score (54), and were followed by University of Nevada (94), California State University, Fresno (132), San Jose State University (176) and independent club team Adidas Transport (179). Sac State finished with 314 points.

The Hornets came into the meet without several of their key runners. The Hornet men were missing their top-two runners in seniors Dustin Diaz and Eric Mencarini. Diaz was out with a sinus infection while Mencarini was out for personal reasons.

For the women’s team, Melissa Madeson has been out for the season with a knee injury, but Molly Peterson is expected to return from her lower-leg stress fracture on Oct. 6.

The emergence of newcomer Amy Cockerham has given Neff reason to be optimistic about his team’s future.

“I saw her on the track and said, ‘who are you and why don’t you come out for cross country?'” Neff said.

Neff added that he’s not gearing his practices Conference Championship that is scheduled for Oct. 27th.

“Traditionally, we have done real well at the Aggie Invitational, but not so well at conference championships. This year we are on track for the Big Sky Championships,” Neff said.

The Hornets’ next meet will be the San Francisco State Invitational on October 6.

Their first look at Big Sky competition will come at the Eastern Washington Invitational on Oct. 13.